I also think it's important to not let them skip the easy work.

Something I remembered, I think one problem my son had was trying retell a book that didn't have much to it. Each page would only have 20 words, and I think he found it hard to retell without just repeating word for word what was written. I think he was overthinking it lol. We would take it in turns so he could hear an example; I'm not sure if this was the case since he caught on quickly, but it's something I am now suspecting.